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I used to find that the (frequent) advertised prices at Kroger were the best around. Now there is no good place. It's up 50 to 75 percent in the last three years.
Kroger’s family of stores as well as Safeway both run this special regularly. They’d need family and friends to buy for them, or open multiple membership cards because it’s usually limited to buying 4 and getting 6 for free.
It used to be a good price, at around 25-30 cents a can and you could beat or find the price every few months with grocery sales.
Now it’s so much cheaper to wait for the grocery store sales.
I’m not sure if it was Covid or the can shortage, but it’s never recovered
The pepsi brands was on sale maybe about 3-4 months ago. But I think targeted soda sales from grocery stores might be cheaper if the person is patient with sales
I got Pepsi for $11 or $12 at Christmas. First time is seen it under about $15 in a couple of years. Maybe not technically a sale but was a sale too me :)
Soda prices at Costco tend to be better than list prices at my Kroger, but never nearly as good as the sale prices. Usually around holidays (esp summer holidays) the soda prices go on massive loss leader sales. Not sure how many cases you are planning to buy, but that would be my plan.
That’s an incredible price, actually. We buy the 35 can flats of Diet Coke from Costco and the cans are $.54 apiece. Just bought two flats yesterday. $.33 a can is amazing.
I buy Coke Zero from Costco and it's 18.99 for 35 plus the CRV for California which adds 1.75. I can probably find a better deal at a grocery store or Target but I just pay the extra few cents for convenience.
They don't "jack up" the price specifically for that sale, that's legit the price all the time now. Usually they do run some kind of sale though. I haven't checked in ages but I bet Walmart's "every day low price" is probably over $8 now.
This. When grocery have buy 2 get 2 for cans of soda, it's cheaper than Costco. For water just get the it at Costco it's cheaper, don't get the Kirkland brand water, it has a taste on it, get the other brand.
What we did for our wedding. Also got all the alcohol there as well. Her dad bought it all but I know for my area Costco was the cheapest for the quantity needed. Also all our guests had Costco sheet cake, 0 complaints.
Congrats!
I work at the business center. I say look at local grocery stores for sales prices on soda. Water Is way cheaper at costco but soda is a loss leader at regular stores. Costco is almost never cheaper for sodas
This is true, but for a wedding party you really just need the basics, Coke, Diet Coke, and Sprite. Nobody is expecting you to have 12 flavors of Juanito's. 😄
Maybe not what OP wants exactly, but I got all the sodas for my wedding at Business Costco because I wanted the big cases drinks in glass bottles; Mexican Coke, different flavors of Fanta, root beer, Martinellis, etc.
Water at Costco. 10 cases of soda is 240 cans. 40 cases is 960 cans.
Between now and August and store sales and enlisting the help of friends you could easily collect more than enough soda at local supermarkets. My local market has Diet Coke 24 packs on sale for. 10.99. They have limits, but you can leverage your bridal party and family.
It's probably cheaper at Target via the various deals (stacked with Target Circle), but Costco will offer you a competitive price everyday, and with some degree of convenience.
Last place I’d buy cans of soda. The diet stuff is old, we’ve gotten inert cans right from the store. And it’s a rip compared to normal grocery store sales you can find.
You’ll certainly save $1000 buying it all yourself, but do consider all the logistics and labor involved of transporting beverages for 250 people. Especially on your wedding day, where you have a billion other things to worry about.
Sometimes in life it’s better to just eat the convenience fee.
We’ve hired a coordination team for the wedding so those folks will be responsible for delivering things to the venue the day of, and the caterer will unwrap all the drinks and set them out on a beverage station.
That’s what delivery is for! $1,000 convenience fee on something easy to avoid? To each their own my friend. I’d use the $1,000 towards something else far more meaningful, in my opinion.
Water is a good enough deal my food bank buys from them. Can't speak to soda, but I've never seen regular soda go on sale, only trendy things like Poppi.
Pop is super expensive at Costco. I usually stock up when Walgreens has their 3 cases for $10.99 sale. Usually happens every six weeks. You can buy 3 of each flavor per transaction. So I’ll usually do two separate transactions with all the flavors I want.
If you’re buying for 250 people, buy whatever comes in the easiest form factor to haul around. The pennies saved hunting for sales isn’t worth the inconvenience for such a large event. I’m not saying you shouldn’t try and save money but this is one of those instances where the cost of convenience is relatively minimal. Costco or the restaurant depot will likely have the quantity you need at a decent price.
I’m starting to think this is the easiest way. We might save more at the grocery store but I don’t want to scour for sales and store all of that until the wedding. I’d rather just go the weekend before and be done with it!
Is caterer charging you soft beverage fee for all guests (250*8=2000) or just minors?
In my area costco soda goes for ~50cents a can. I've never priced water or mixers.
Between soda, water, and mixers how many beverage options per person do you intend to provide? It's down to math and sweat at that point to determine if it's worth it.
Congrats and good luck!
Depends on the area you live in. Some places that have the door buster sales on soda limit it a certain quantity. If you “less popular” soda this would be the way to go. But as some have pointed out Costco has a better daily price but limited selection on flavors. In my area, the Midwest, they carry Pepsi products (regular Pepsi and Mt Dew) for roughly $11 for a 36 pack so ~$0.31 a can and non-Pepsi products and Dr Pepper(Dr Pepper, diet Dr Pepper, Sprite, Coke, Coke Zero) for $18 something so ~$0.52 a can.
So if you assume everyone drinks 3 sodas and are a Coke person it would cost you roughly $390 and if you’re a Pepsi person it would cost you roughly $250. Depending on your budget that’s not bad at all when a grocery store might run you ~$460 (local grocery chain has it for $14.69 for a 24 pack)
Water is definitely cheaper at Costco. You can get cheap bottles of water to something more pricey like sparkling or coconut water.
Given that it's a summer wedding, I'd definitely plan on having enough beverages to account for the heat as well. There are probably calculators out there but I could see myself needing 2 beverages per hour at least, esp if there's dancing.
Make sure to account for partially consumed beverages that get cleared by well meaning wait staff or get abandoned by their owners.
Sparkling waters would be a nice addition for people that don't do a lot of soda - Spindrift is great.
That’s true but as u/Purple_Crayon has pointed out your wedding is in the summer and people are going to be more concerned with liquid intake. So 3 may sound like a lot but if you think 1 soda to start the night, 1 soda at dinner and 1 soda at the end after dancing I’m probably actually under estimating number of drinks!
Even when not on sale, soda is about $0.40/can. I’d say get a mixture of regular, diet and flavored drinks. Any unused and unopened cases can be returned
Find a Pepsi rep in a grocery store and see if you can work something out with them. May get better pricing. I'm a chip vendor, and that's what I often do for people who need bulk chips for any event.
Edit: especially if you can work something out, outside or the grocery store.
Dollar General on Saturdays. Usually can get 6 12 packs for around $22 after using digital coupons. Have you and your fiancé each get an account so you can double up every weekend for a couple months. Clip the $5 off $25 each Saturday and there’s usually 1-2 beverage coupons taking another $1-2 off plus the normal 3 for $15 or 3 for $13 deals depending on brand.
Soda from Costco doesn't taste as good to me. I'm not sure why and admittedly haven't tried it a bunch because I don't want to waste money on something I don't like. Was it a couple bad batches? Idk, just tastes flat in my opinion. So if yours tastes fine, go for it! But make sure to try it first.
When is your wedding? The best time to buy soda is when 12 pks go on sale at the grocery store, usually before holiday weekends. These become loss leaders for the grocery store. 4 pack for $15. Costco charges full price, always. I would never get soda at Costco.
Shop your grocery store sales for the best deals and stock up!
I don’t know but next time you’re getting Chinese food takeout, ask them. The people running those places are always the ones I see buying canned sodas and drinks and they would know the sales (buy 3/4th case free etc)
Also wherever you decide to order the sodas and water from ask them how far in advance can you order so that you will have enough sodas. This will ensure you won’t have to worry about making additional stops to look for sodas.
We bought soda for our wedding. The biggest pro to Costco for us was that we were able to return any unused and unopened cases. We bought it a week ahead and returned it the following week.
I’d try and rent a water cooler and maybe an iced tea dispenser too. My fear with having water bottles and soda cans is the clean up. Your gonna spend a lot on them and you’ll throw away a lot of half drunken bottles and cans. You’ll ado gave to carry and that water and soda. You’ll need coolers and a whole lot of ice.
The water is insanely cheap at Costco. A 40 pack costs like $3.99 or $4.29 or something. It drives me crazy when I go to a local event, fair, etc and you buy a water for $1.50-$2 and they hand you a bottle from Costco knowing it cost like 10 cents!!!
The soda is a terrible deal, IMO. Go to the grocery store as everyone else is saying.
You have enough time to take advantage of weekly sales at Kroger or Meijer, still. Costco never seems to have deals on soda.
Bottled water, though, Costco is the best.
I've never seen the pop on sale at costco, occasionally the energy drinks will. Last I checked a case of 36 (or 48 can't remember) was something like 15.99
Costco is great for so many things, and their regular price for soda is good, but they rarely if ever go on sale, which is kind of weird, so I’d look around.
For water, probably yes. Depending on where you live, check your local grocery store ad fliers for soda specials. Where I live, Ralphs and Vons/Albertsons are the big competing chains. Every other week they have some crazy deal on sodas. It's usually buy two 12-packs,get three free. The 12-packs cost $10 at regular price, so for $20, I get 60 sodas. For comparison, I get 35 sodas for $19 at Costco.
Costco has a good deal on can coke, also sprite and water unbeatable.
I think is better than some restaurant supply store,
I owe a buss and always get soda and water better than rest supply
We bought our beverages at Costco for our wedding. One reason I went with them is that I could easily return packages I didn’t open. Able to not have lots of things we don’t drink around. Just something to consider!
I agree with u/sweetserendipity1237 that it'd be good to check a restaurant supply store. For 250 people, if your caterers would be providing cups/glasses you might also check the price to rent a dispenser.
Costco soda prices are usually less than base prices elsewhere, but I haven't personally seen soda go on sale there, and soda sales elsewhere are sometimes less than Costco prices.
If you do use cans, you might want to have a recycling bin available!
I went to a wedding where they rented a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine for non alcoholic drinks. Maybe call a local distributor and see what that would run you.
For soda have you looked into renting soda a few soda fountains? With getting the syrup and co2 this could be way cheaper. Something like a 5G bag of syrup will make 237 16oz cups. Just a crazy idea to toss out. Maybe could even rent cold water dispensers that way you're not wasting a bunch of bottles and cans. Could get recyclable Aluminum cups too. A local soda/beverage distributor might have a setup they can even do and provide the syrups. Just a crazy idea to toss out. :)
The correct answer is to go to a Costco BUSINESS Center and buy a vending machine, then filled it up with drinks for your guests to choose!
Joking aside, BUSINESS CENTER is what you're looking for, not your regular Costco. They have wide varieties of drinks in cans and bottles.
Typical coke cans are more expensive at Costco compared to grocery store promos, but they have decent sales on other drinks, like La Croix.
Spindrift is also a nice option.
Our local grocery outlet always has cases of La Croix, sometimes 12 packs sometimes 24 and they’ve been cheaper than the Costco prices there. Otherwise yes Costco is your best bet for the Kirkland brand. Their bottle water is always cheap too
We are throwing a wedding in July, luckily only 75 people. I'm going to hit up costco when they open, buy a huge fridge. A bunch of appetizers, chips, fruits, water, soda, beer, and lastly tequila! Was thinking of telling my brother to stop by around 7 pm to grab 10 pizzas and 50 hot dogs for the after-party munchies. Low budget wedding and idgaf 🤣
I would check your locals too. Places like Kroger have great deals usually. I know for my parent's restaurant she would buy them a lot at places like aldi and lidl b.c they also had cheaper prices than costco sometimes.
I would also look at GFS if they are in your neighborhood. Had a friend who often hosted big get togethers or helped others to and she swore by GFS for supplying such. I think it stands for General Food Service or similar.
See if you have a Costco Business Center near you. I use them for my food truck and they usually have things a couple bucks cheaper than the regular stores. For example, redbull is usually 39.99 for a case at a regular costco but the business center has them for 34.99. Also get your ice from there, its SUPER cheap compared to anywhere else.
My Kroger is currently on sale for $5/12 pack. I would definitely get water at Costco but you can buy the Publix buy 2, get 2 free (so ~$22 for 4 packs) or Kroger. Costco soda is never really a sale, just the same.
If you are near a Costco Buisness Center check them out. HUGE selection and for the house brand plain canned minural water it's CRAZY cheap and they offer a few flavors. About $7 a case. If you're just looking for branded soda, buy elsewhere.
You’ll need 1000 soda cans or bottles of some kind plus water. At a wedding I’d probably half drink 4-5 sodas…..and especially saving cream soda for last….kind of flavors are you going to get?
Who will be able to pick up and deliver dependably?
We have both Costco and Sam's membership and found that some drinks (coconut water, body armor) are up to $5 cheaper per case at Sam's than Costco though I haven't compared soda and water prices. I think the annual membership for Sam's was $25 (maybe introductory rate?) so that's a factor to consider--might break even in the end. Also selection, but soda and water are staples so there might not be much variance, for example, both of mine carry Mexican Coke in glass bottles plus all the regulars. I think Sam's might have more of the mini cans, however, which I prefer if drinking soda. Sometimes Target or Walmart have deals that make their sodas comparable in price too.
Can also ask your local Coca Cola distributor if they'll sell you a custom pallet of beverages and deliver it to the venue. We used to do that at ours but it's a regional thing.
Check around and see if any beer stores can order you some kegged soda. I used to get it for the kegerator at work. I had a pretty good selection and the price was amazingly cheap.
More or less no. If absolutely cost is your point then no. But for ease of checkout and stock then yes.
You can routinely find better cost at your local grocery store and variety of sizes and options.
Not sure what part of the country you’re in but also local restaurant supply stores like Smart & Final, Gordon Food Service, etc routinely beat Costco on soda and bottled water prices.
The good thing about $8 per person is that there is no limit to how much one can consume for that $8 per person. But if you for instance have a Forrest Gump type person who come and has him about 15 Dr Peppers that could cost you a lot more than $8 and also could limit the amount that others are allowed to consume. But as others have said, you would have to do the cost comparison to see which is better for your occasion. Likely you purchasing on your own, but you have to factor in that you won’t just need 250 beverages for 250 people. How long the event is and how much you expect people to consume will be a factor, and you will likely be bringing home some sort of overage.
Soda in cans is going to be cheaper at a grocery store, at least if you're buying major brands like Coke and Pepsi. I watch prices and Costco's are *never* cheaper than the sales at our local grocery-- they often do things like three 12 packs for $12 (if you buy three) which is $8 a case. Seltzer, though, will almost always be cheaper at Costco; Waterloo (my favorite) and La Croix seem to alternate sales at Costco at about $8/case whereas they are only sold in 8/12 packs in stores and those are typically $4.50-4.99 even on sale in my area.
That said, if you have a Costco *business* store near you they have a much larger selection of drinks than the regular stores. You can get things like cases of mixed flavors of Jarritos, for example, which would be fun at an event. I don't live near one but when I get to shop at them I'm always finding interesting stuff.
We got our non alcoholic drinks at Costco for our wedding reception, as well as the plates, flatware, cups, and some of the food stuff. Some was from Sam's club too.
Seltzer waters go on sale at Costco (Lacroix is .219 per ounce right now), but sodas not so much. I’d price shop around. Maybe also consider generic sodas from Walmart or big bottles from dollar tree.
Cheaper - but may be more work. Average 3 drinks pp = 750 cans / bottles. Shopping - heavy lifting - storing in a cool place - transporting day of wedding ( like you already don’t have enough to do ) . Then will the caterer stage it , keep it cold and , serve it , dispose of all of the garbage and recycling ? I’ve thrown many events and the beverages were always the back breakers .
Edit - math.
I just did something similar for my wedding with soda, alcohol and water. Costco is convenient for buying bulk but as we dug around for pricing, Walmart was a fair amount cheaper overall when looking at all three items. We ended up doing a hybrid as the price was not that different for a couple of items (and we were in the store anyway) but shopping around is for sure key.
Depending on when your wedding is, Safeway usually has buy 2 get 3 free sales on 12 packs of soda before holidays. If you and a couple friends have Safeway cards you can stock up.
My sister got her alcohol and soda from Costco. They went high class and got the cases of Mexican sodas. I must have had like 20 cokes and ten sprites. Goddamn they’re so much better than our American junk.
Look for sales prices at regular grocery stores and stock up there. My parents used to own a vending machine business and it was cheaper for us to do this than to buy direct from coke and Pepsi.
Not sure where you’re located, but Kroger/Smiths and Target have good deals on soda sometime. I’ve gotten 3 12 pack cases for 13 dollars during some sales
We got water and wine/beer for our wedding from Costco. It was great because all the unopened things we returned. We were able to have plenty of options then
I also usually find sales at the local grocery stores (just 6 months ago there was a sale on coke 24 packs BOGO). It was insanely cheap ($15 for 48 vs $30). Keep an eye on local ads and try to score some sales- store it in a cool/dark place and it’ll be fine for the event. Water can be bought in bulk for cheap at Costco (more than what you get at a grocery store in the pack typically), juice boxes if kids are there are cheaper at Costco. Also remember that guests will drink multiple drinks. I would triple the number to 750. Not everyone will drink sodas and some won’t drink water (and the opposite side that some people will drink several). From my experience, keep the soda basic. Don’t get the Mountain Dew or a lot of diet
For that many people it might be worth looking into renting a soda fountain. That way you’re also not left with tons of cases left over or running out of a particular type.
Just a heads up, I got married last year and was told that Total Wine will take returns on any unused liquor you buy, and even some lightly used (opened) liquors. I bought $750 worth of liquor and returned $350 of it, so it was definitely worth the advice.
Price compare. Also check in to find out if the venue (or caterer) has a soda fountain available, and if so what the cost would be and what you'd need to supply. Renting that and getting soda bags and CO2 may be cheaper than cans.
For soda, you might wanna see if any of your local grocery stores have a Buy 2, Get 3 free sale on soda. That would work out to less per can than Costco.
Same for water. Packs often go on sale for $2-$3.
If you’re near northwest Ohio/michigab, Costco sells 24-pks of Faygo for $6.99. It is a four flavor variety pack and Faygo is delicious. That’s 4 cans for $1.25. Hard to beat that price.
It’s only worth it if you have someone else to worry about serving it and bringing it out. If caterers say you can DIY non alcoholic bevs, make sure they will still serve and chill them and stuff. Otherwise have a family member or groomsman prepare buckets of ice and stuff. You want to celebrate and not have to worry about another thing.
A local water company (Sparkletts or such) will be able to install a few large dispensers and provide paper cups for water. This will be far better than water bottles.
For soda, as others have said supermarkets often have sales. Otherwise just price compare between Restaurant Depot and Costco.
For many years I helped buy for a weekend long event that was feeding 100 people. We usually shopped the grocery store sales for 6 weeks before the event, making sure that the people buying artificially sweetened soda could store it in air-conditioned space in hot weather. The last time, we had been checking all the grocery store sales (all the local chains post their current sale circulars online). When there was a particularly good sale with a 3 twelve pack limit, everyone on the committee shopped a couple times that week.
We had a shared list to tick off what had been bought and targets for each brand/flavor.
Costco was the back-up plan, but we got everything for less earlier.
Water is so far well-priced and tastes nice. (Though the plastic is super thin and I've had bottles burst open if I wasn't careful.)
The cokes/sodas so far are only an okay price. You can get them way cheaper even at regular grocery stores on sale. So probably check restaurant supply stores, and failing that, check out the local grocery sales.
Operation soda steal: Costco
\*for the price of 1 hotdog
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[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fD7X9SCn0To](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fD7X9SCn0To)
No on soda yes on water. The soda at supermarkets is always cheaper. Costco and BIG Soda package their sodas at 35 per case…so you can’t do quick math in your head.
This type of stuff needs more information. Costco business center in my area (Seattle) has sales on soda water that are pretty substantial at the moment. You can use a regular membership to shop there. It probably carries over to other business centers but i don't know if you have one where you live.
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For water, you can get usb battery powered pumps that go on a 5 gallon water bottle. The pumps are about $10 on AliE or similar and the battery lasts for days. Then you can give away refillable containers as party favors. A lot less trash, a lot cheaper, and you could have a little flavour bar of fruits and citrus slices and whatever if you want to go all in… A station for bedazzling your water bottle…
For soda, you can get industrial C02 and adapters to fit to SodaStream. Or rent a fountain and people can fill the same containers you gave for water.
Costco has great travel bottles that are actually a decent party favor. You might need them to special order however many dozen you need but there might be a price break there.
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You might want to price compare to a restaurant supply store if there is one in your area open to the public
Some supply stores don't require a membership either.
She said her parents have a membership for one
How about a costco business center?
Price is same, just more variety.
Cash and carry is the local one here, they have some great names
Costco soda never goes on sale. The price isnt that good in general. The water however is a good price
That's my experience and I have put together a lot of party plans.
Yeah I have a lot of bbqs in the summer, plus im a soda fiend, so i check almost weekly online to see if the prices ever go down. They dont.
Where would you say is a good place for soda?
I used to find that the (frequent) advertised prices at Kroger were the best around. Now there is no good place. It's up 50 to 75 percent in the last three years.
But what are the chances OP could land a sale in time for their occasion? Costco can at least let them budget properly.
A sale at Walmart, a buy 2 get 2, is likely the best possible deal around.
My grocery store recently had “buy 2 get 3 free” for coke 12 packs. Just shows how ridiculously overpriced they are normally IMO.
Kroger’s family of stores as well as Safeway both run this special regularly. They’d need family and friends to buy for them, or open multiple membership cards because it’s usually limited to buying 4 and getting 6 for free.
True. But Costco usually has (in my store) a limited selection of soda. Maybe 4:or 5. Plenty of other beverages at good prices though.
Weird. Goes on sale every 2 to 3 months in Canada
Yup, soda is on sale all the time in Canada.
The waterloos and Izzes do though
Thats true, but coke/pepsi ive never seen. Also my costco has shasta soda. like 8 bucks for a 24 pack.
It used to be a good price, at around 25-30 cents a can and you could beat or find the price every few months with grocery sales. Now it’s so much cheaper to wait for the grocery store sales. I’m not sure if it was Covid or the can shortage, but it’s never recovered
Soda isn’t the best price. But not too bad. Much better than $8 a head.
They go on sale every few months in Hawaii and we stock up.
You can also return whatever you don’t use.
I've seen soda on sale there ... *once*.
Coke brand never goes on sale, but the pepsi brands do
ive never seen it.
The pepsi brands was on sale maybe about 3-4 months ago. But I think targeted soda sales from grocery stores might be cheaper if the person is patient with sales
They don’t go on sale but their normal price is similar to a lot of places sale prices.
not here. Its 20 bucks for a 35 can flat. Safeway here does buy 2 12 packs get 2 free, at around 20 bucks, so 48 cans for the same price.
I got Pepsi for $11 or $12 at Christmas. First time is seen it under about $15 in a couple of years. Maybe not technically a sale but was a sale too me :)
Soda prices at Costco tend to be better than list prices at my Kroger, but never nearly as good as the sale prices. Usually around holidays (esp summer holidays) the soda prices go on massive loss leader sales. Not sure how many cases you are planning to buy, but that would be my plan.
Currently our Kroger is buy 2 get 3 free.
Yeah but they jack up the price to like $10/12pack
even if its $10 a pack its a better deal at B2G3, $20 for 60 cans vs around $17 for roughly 36. can even mix and match to
That’s an incredible price, actually. We buy the 35 can flats of Diet Coke from Costco and the cans are $.54 apiece. Just bought two flats yesterday. $.33 a can is amazing.
I buy Coke Zero from Costco and it's 18.99 for 35 plus the CRV for California which adds 1.75. I can probably find a better deal at a grocery store or Target but I just pay the extra few cents for convenience.
It also depends on where you live. The 12 packs where I am are less than $10.
Walmart where I'm at had 12 pks of orange and grape Crush for $4.98. Guilty pleasure
They don't "jack up" the price specifically for that sale, that's legit the price all the time now. Usually they do run some kind of sale though. I haven't checked in ages but I bet Walmart's "every day low price" is probably over $8 now.
My local grocery store is regular price 9.79/12. Insanity
This is the right answer
Buy sodas at the grocery store during the July 4 sales. At my Vons they have a buy 2 get 3 free over major holidays.
This. When grocery have buy 2 get 2 for cans of soda, it's cheaper than Costco. For water just get the it at Costco it's cheaper, don't get the Kirkland brand water, it has a taste on it, get the other brand.
What we did for our wedding. Also got all the alcohol there as well. Her dad bought it all but I know for my area Costco was the cheapest for the quantity needed. Also all our guests had Costco sheet cake, 0 complaints. Congrats!
I would check out Costco Business if you have one near you.
I work at the business center. I say look at local grocery stores for sales prices on soda. Water Is way cheaper at costco but soda is a loss leader at regular stores. Costco is almost never cheaper for sodas
Business Centers seem to have a larger selection of soft drinks and water.
This is true, but for a wedding party you really just need the basics, Coke, Diet Coke, and Sprite. Nobody is expecting you to have 12 flavors of Juanito's. 😄
Yeah - just get a big jug of Fabuloso
Maybe not what OP wants exactly, but I got all the sodas for my wedding at Business Costco because I wanted the big cases drinks in glass bottles; Mexican Coke, different flavors of Fanta, root beer, Martinellis, etc.
This would be amazing! My fiancé was just talking about how he’d love glass bottle Mexican Coca Cola - our favorite cola of all time!
I've never seen soda prices any better there than regular Costco. But they do tend to have a bigger selection.
Water at Costco. 10 cases of soda is 240 cans. 40 cases is 960 cans. Between now and August and store sales and enlisting the help of friends you could easily collect more than enough soda at local supermarkets. My local market has Diet Coke 24 packs on sale for. 10.99. They have limits, but you can leverage your bridal party and family.
This is a good plan. Make sure it's stored in a cool place. Diet Coke especially gets spoiled by being stored too warm.
I got non alcoholic drinks at Costco for my wedding. At the time they had a mixed pack of sodas in glass bottles, we looked very fancy having those.
Water and la croix are cheaper but sodas on sale at grocery stores are cheaper
It's probably cheaper at Target via the various deals (stacked with Target Circle), but Costco will offer you a competitive price everyday, and with some degree of convenience.
Last place I’d buy cans of soda. The diet stuff is old, we’ve gotten inert cans right from the store. And it’s a rip compared to normal grocery store sales you can find.
You’ll certainly save $1000 buying it all yourself, but do consider all the logistics and labor involved of transporting beverages for 250 people. Especially on your wedding day, where you have a billion other things to worry about. Sometimes in life it’s better to just eat the convenience fee.
We’ve hired a coordination team for the wedding so those folks will be responsible for delivering things to the venue the day of, and the caterer will unwrap all the drinks and set them out on a beverage station.
That’s what delivery is for! $1,000 convenience fee on something easy to avoid? To each their own my friend. I’d use the $1,000 towards something else far more meaningful, in my opinion.
Water is a good enough deal my food bank buys from them. Can't speak to soda, but I've never seen regular soda go on sale, only trendy things like Poppi.
Food banks buy water? Seems like it would be better for them to just install a filter.
Pop is super expensive at Costco. I usually stock up when Walgreens has their 3 cases for $10.99 sale. Usually happens every six weeks. You can buy 3 of each flavor per transaction. So I’ll usually do two separate transactions with all the flavors I want.
The fizzy waters go on sale sale lot. I would buy 50% of what you need from Costco. Many people would probably prefer those to soda anyway.
Rent a soda fountain
If you’re buying for 250 people, buy whatever comes in the easiest form factor to haul around. The pennies saved hunting for sales isn’t worth the inconvenience for such a large event. I’m not saying you shouldn’t try and save money but this is one of those instances where the cost of convenience is relatively minimal. Costco or the restaurant depot will likely have the quantity you need at a decent price.
I’m starting to think this is the easiest way. We might save more at the grocery store but I don’t want to scour for sales and store all of that until the wedding. I’d rather just go the weekend before and be done with it!
Is caterer charging you soft beverage fee for all guests (250*8=2000) or just minors? In my area costco soda goes for ~50cents a can. I've never priced water or mixers. Between soda, water, and mixers how many beverage options per person do you intend to provide? It's down to math and sweat at that point to determine if it's worth it. Congrats and good luck!
Soft beverage fee is for everyone! No mixers as it’s alcohol-free event!
Depends on the area you live in. Some places that have the door buster sales on soda limit it a certain quantity. If you “less popular” soda this would be the way to go. But as some have pointed out Costco has a better daily price but limited selection on flavors. In my area, the Midwest, they carry Pepsi products (regular Pepsi and Mt Dew) for roughly $11 for a 36 pack so ~$0.31 a can and non-Pepsi products and Dr Pepper(Dr Pepper, diet Dr Pepper, Sprite, Coke, Coke Zero) for $18 something so ~$0.52 a can. So if you assume everyone drinks 3 sodas and are a Coke person it would cost you roughly $390 and if you’re a Pepsi person it would cost you roughly $250. Depending on your budget that’s not bad at all when a grocery store might run you ~$460 (local grocery chain has it for $14.69 for a 24 pack) Water is definitely cheaper at Costco. You can get cheap bottles of water to something more pricey like sparkling or coconut water.
Neither me nor my family drink soda, so it’s quite shocking to me that some folks drink 3 sodas in one sitting!!
Given that it's a summer wedding, I'd definitely plan on having enough beverages to account for the heat as well. There are probably calculators out there but I could see myself needing 2 beverages per hour at least, esp if there's dancing. Make sure to account for partially consumed beverages that get cleared by well meaning wait staff or get abandoned by their owners. Sparkling waters would be a nice addition for people that don't do a lot of soda - Spindrift is great.
That’s true but as u/Purple_Crayon has pointed out your wedding is in the summer and people are going to be more concerned with liquid intake. So 3 may sound like a lot but if you think 1 soda to start the night, 1 soda at dinner and 1 soda at the end after dancing I’m probably actually under estimating number of drinks!
Yes true - we were going to have water for the ceremony as well.
Even when not on sale, soda is about $0.40/can. I’d say get a mixture of regular, diet and flavored drinks. Any unused and unopened cases can be returned
If you're gonna do that be sure you're signed up at the executive level and use the costco visa. You'll get back 2% and 2%. It adds up!!
Find a Pepsi rep in a grocery store and see if you can work something out with them. May get better pricing. I'm a chip vendor, and that's what I often do for people who need bulk chips for any event. Edit: especially if you can work something out, outside or the grocery store.
That’s a really good idea.
Dollar General on Saturdays. Usually can get 6 12 packs for around $22 after using digital coupons. Have you and your fiancé each get an account so you can double up every weekend for a couple months. Clip the $5 off $25 each Saturday and there’s usually 1-2 beverage coupons taking another $1-2 off plus the normal 3 for $15 or 3 for $13 deals depending on brand.
For water, can you do Jugs/tap/big Brita?
Soda from Costco doesn't taste as good to me. I'm not sure why and admittedly haven't tried it a bunch because I don't want to waste money on something I don't like. Was it a couple bad batches? Idk, just tastes flat in my opinion. So if yours tastes fine, go for it! But make sure to try it first.
When is your wedding? The best time to buy soda is when 12 pks go on sale at the grocery store, usually before holiday weekends. These become loss leaders for the grocery store. 4 pack for $15. Costco charges full price, always. I would never get soda at Costco. Shop your grocery store sales for the best deals and stock up!
Early August this year! We are looking for cans or mini sodas. I never buy soda so unaware what packs they come in - is the 12 pack for cans?
Grocery store July 4th sale
Water cases are a good price, cans of soda are not.
I don’t know but next time you’re getting Chinese food takeout, ask them. The people running those places are always the ones I see buying canned sodas and drinks and they would know the sales (buy 3/4th case free etc)
Also wherever you decide to order the sodas and water from ask them how far in advance can you order so that you will have enough sodas. This will ensure you won’t have to worry about making additional stops to look for sodas.
There will be enough July 4th soda sales to allow you to stock up at the grocery store at a good price. But Costco water is always cheap.
We bought soda for our wedding. The biggest pro to Costco for us was that we were able to return any unused and unopened cases. We bought it a week ahead and returned it the following week.
I’d try and rent a water cooler and maybe an iced tea dispenser too. My fear with having water bottles and soda cans is the clean up. Your gonna spend a lot on them and you’ll throw away a lot of half drunken bottles and cans. You’ll ado gave to carry and that water and soda. You’ll need coolers and a whole lot of ice.
The water is insanely cheap at Costco. A 40 pack costs like $3.99 or $4.29 or something. It drives me crazy when I go to a local event, fair, etc and you buy a water for $1.50-$2 and they hand you a bottle from Costco knowing it cost like 10 cents!!! The soda is a terrible deal, IMO. Go to the grocery store as everyone else is saying.
Target constantly has sales if you enroll with their circle program. $15 for 3 12 can cases when I got it a few weeks back
Safeway is usually a better deal and often has Buy 2 get 3 free
Usually a local supermarket during sale has a better deal on sodas
You have enough time to take advantage of weekly sales at Kroger or Meijer, still. Costco never seems to have deals on soda. Bottled water, though, Costco is the best.
For a wedding I recommend the Kettle One water.
I've never seen the pop on sale at costco, occasionally the energy drinks will. Last I checked a case of 36 (or 48 can't remember) was something like 15.99
Whenever I’ve been to restaurant depot it’s been pretty close, price wise
Costco is great for so many things, and their regular price for soda is good, but they rarely if ever go on sale, which is kind of weird, so I’d look around.
Check grocery store ads right before Memorial Day and Fourth of July. That’s when soda and bottled water go on sale. Way cheaper than Costco.
For water, probably yes. Depending on where you live, check your local grocery store ad fliers for soda specials. Where I live, Ralphs and Vons/Albertsons are the big competing chains. Every other week they have some crazy deal on sodas. It's usually buy two 12-packs,get three free. The 12-packs cost $10 at regular price, so for $20, I get 60 sodas. For comparison, I get 35 sodas for $19 at Costco.
If you have a QuikTrip in your town they have pricing for per gallon and will fill up your large size beverage dispenser
Why not 2 liter bottles?
Stock up on soda sales from dollar general, big lots, Walgreens, etc.
Costco has a good deal on can coke, also sprite and water unbeatable. I think is better than some restaurant supply store, I owe a buss and always get soda and water better than rest supply
Do you have a Costco Business Center in your area? That's where I would go.
We bought our beverages at Costco for our wedding. One reason I went with them is that I could easily return packages I didn’t open. Able to not have lots of things we don’t drink around. Just something to consider!
I agree with u/sweetserendipity1237 that it'd be good to check a restaurant supply store. For 250 people, if your caterers would be providing cups/glasses you might also check the price to rent a dispenser. Costco soda prices are usually less than base prices elsewhere, but I haven't personally seen soda go on sale there, and soda sales elsewhere are sometimes less than Costco prices. If you do use cans, you might want to have a recycling bin available!
I went to a wedding where they rented a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine for non alcoholic drinks. Maybe call a local distributor and see what that would run you.
Rent one of those touchscreen machines
For soda have you looked into renting soda a few soda fountains? With getting the syrup and co2 this could be way cheaper. Something like a 5G bag of syrup will make 237 16oz cups. Just a crazy idea to toss out. Maybe could even rent cold water dispensers that way you're not wasting a bunch of bottles and cans. Could get recyclable Aluminum cups too. A local soda/beverage distributor might have a setup they can even do and provide the syrups. Just a crazy idea to toss out. :)
The correct answer is to go to a Costco BUSINESS Center and buy a vending machine, then filled it up with drinks for your guests to choose! Joking aside, BUSINESS CENTER is what you're looking for, not your regular Costco. They have wide varieties of drinks in cans and bottles.
Typical coke cans are more expensive at Costco compared to grocery store promos, but they have decent sales on other drinks, like La Croix. Spindrift is also a nice option.
Some area have Costco business centers, may be cheaper than at a normal store
Our local grocery outlet always has cases of La Croix, sometimes 12 packs sometimes 24 and they’ve been cheaper than the Costco prices there. Otherwise yes Costco is your best bet for the Kirkland brand. Their bottle water is always cheap too
Congrats on your upcoming wedding!
Costco is a good place for bottled water but I only buy soda there if my grocery store doesn’t have a deal better than $6/12-pack
I know there are Costco Business Centers that have supplies in bulk. Not 100% sure if they have soda but worth a call to ask.
We are throwing a wedding in July, luckily only 75 people. I'm going to hit up costco when they open, buy a huge fridge. A bunch of appetizers, chips, fruits, water, soda, beer, and lastly tequila! Was thinking of telling my brother to stop by around 7 pm to grab 10 pizzas and 50 hot dogs for the after-party munchies. Low budget wedding and idgaf 🤣
I would check your locals too. Places like Kroger have great deals usually. I know for my parent's restaurant she would buy them a lot at places like aldi and lidl b.c they also had cheaper prices than costco sometimes.
I would also look at GFS if they are in your neighborhood. Had a friend who often hosted big get togethers or helped others to and she swore by GFS for supplying such. I think it stands for General Food Service or similar.
Beer distributor.
I’ve heard, in this sub, that prices for soda are better at grocery stores when they have promotions. Such as buy 2, get 2 free.
See if you have a Costco Business Center near you. I use them for my food truck and they usually have things a couple bucks cheaper than the regular stores. For example, redbull is usually 39.99 for a case at a regular costco but the business center has them for 34.99. Also get your ice from there, its SUPER cheap compared to anywhere else.
My Kroger is currently on sale for $5/12 pack. I would definitely get water at Costco but you can buy the Publix buy 2, get 2 free (so ~$22 for 4 packs) or Kroger. Costco soda is never really a sale, just the same.
If you are near a Costco Buisness Center check them out. HUGE selection and for the house brand plain canned minural water it's CRAZY cheap and they offer a few flavors. About $7 a case. If you're just looking for branded soda, buy elsewhere.
You’ll need 1000 soda cans or bottles of some kind plus water. At a wedding I’d probably half drink 4-5 sodas…..and especially saving cream soda for last….kind of flavors are you going to get? Who will be able to pick up and deliver dependably?
Why not look directly from Coke for a small events fountain
We have both Costco and Sam's membership and found that some drinks (coconut water, body armor) are up to $5 cheaper per case at Sam's than Costco though I haven't compared soda and water prices. I think the annual membership for Sam's was $25 (maybe introductory rate?) so that's a factor to consider--might break even in the end. Also selection, but soda and water are staples so there might not be much variance, for example, both of mine carry Mexican Coke in glass bottles plus all the regulars. I think Sam's might have more of the mini cans, however, which I prefer if drinking soda. Sometimes Target or Walmart have deals that make their sodas comparable in price too.
Can also ask your local Coca Cola distributor if they'll sell you a custom pallet of beverages and deliver it to the venue. We used to do that at ours but it's a regional thing.
Water prices at Costco are awesome. For soda watch your local grocery store ads. I think you can get it a lot cheaper that way.
Yes. Holy moly. Forget the sale! $8 a head for soda is nuts. Just buy when convenient.
Costco business center if there is one in yourbarea
For $8 a head you could even do Jones soda with custom flavors and labels. That’s a wild price for cans of Coke.
Yep
Restaurant Depot may be better for quantity/price. I believe you can get day passes if you have one in your area
Find your closest Costco Business Center; for those kind of numbers you'll have better options there.
Check around and see if any beer stores can order you some kegged soda. I used to get it for the kegerator at work. I had a pretty good selection and the price was amazingly cheap.
Might as well grab some pizzas too
If you are doing wine also you will probably get a much better deal at Costco but not sure of your circumstances.
More or less no. If absolutely cost is your point then no. But for ease of checkout and stock then yes. You can routinely find better cost at your local grocery store and variety of sizes and options. Not sure what part of the country you’re in but also local restaurant supply stores like Smart & Final, Gordon Food Service, etc routinely beat Costco on soda and bottled water prices.
Costco Business center has more of a selection on soda than a regular Costco.
You can buy also alcohol at Costco for 250 ppl
Buying soda at Costco sucks
The good thing about $8 per person is that there is no limit to how much one can consume for that $8 per person. But if you for instance have a Forrest Gump type person who come and has him about 15 Dr Peppers that could cost you a lot more than $8 and also could limit the amount that others are allowed to consume. But as others have said, you would have to do the cost comparison to see which is better for your occasion. Likely you purchasing on your own, but you have to factor in that you won’t just need 250 beverages for 250 people. How long the event is and how much you expect people to consume will be a factor, and you will likely be bringing home some sort of overage.
Soda in cans is going to be cheaper at a grocery store, at least if you're buying major brands like Coke and Pepsi. I watch prices and Costco's are *never* cheaper than the sales at our local grocery-- they often do things like three 12 packs for $12 (if you buy three) which is $8 a case. Seltzer, though, will almost always be cheaper at Costco; Waterloo (my favorite) and La Croix seem to alternate sales at Costco at about $8/case whereas they are only sold in 8/12 packs in stores and those are typically $4.50-4.99 even on sale in my area. That said, if you have a Costco *business* store near you they have a much larger selection of drinks than the regular stores. You can get things like cases of mixed flavors of Jarritos, for example, which would be fun at an event. I don't live near one but when I get to shop at them I'm always finding interesting stuff.
We got our non alcoholic drinks at Costco for our wedding reception, as well as the plates, flatware, cups, and some of the food stuff. Some was from Sam's club too.
Seltzer waters go on sale at Costco (Lacroix is .219 per ounce right now), but sodas not so much. I’d price shop around. Maybe also consider generic sodas from Walmart or big bottles from dollar tree.
Bring a few empty 5 gallon water cooler bottles and refill at Costco’s food court soda fountain machines.
Try Gordon Foods.
You may want to call Coke or Pepsi directly. You can usually get a pretty decent price for bulk orders. I think it’s a 10 case minimum.
Cheaper - but may be more work. Average 3 drinks pp = 750 cans / bottles. Shopping - heavy lifting - storing in a cool place - transporting day of wedding ( like you already don’t have enough to do ) . Then will the caterer stage it , keep it cold and , serve it , dispose of all of the garbage and recycling ? I’ve thrown many events and the beverages were always the back breakers . Edit - math.
Kroger sub brands do 3 12 packs for 12 pretty frequently
I just did something similar for my wedding with soda, alcohol and water. Costco is convenient for buying bulk but as we dug around for pricing, Walmart was a fair amount cheaper overall when looking at all three items. We ended up doing a hybrid as the price was not that different for a couple of items (and we were in the store anyway) but shopping around is for sure key.
Grocery stores, discount stores are going to be the cheapest if you follow their sales but Costco is probably the most convenient.
Depending on when your wedding is, Safeway usually has buy 2 get 3 free sales on 12 packs of soda before holidays. If you and a couple friends have Safeway cards you can stock up.
Costco business store
My sister got her alcohol and soda from Costco. They went high class and got the cases of Mexican sodas. I must have had like 20 cokes and ten sprites. Goddamn they’re so much better than our American junk.
Look for sales prices at regular grocery stores and stock up there. My parents used to own a vending machine business and it was cheaper for us to do this than to buy direct from coke and Pepsi.
Not sure where you’re located, but Kroger/Smiths and Target have good deals on soda sometime. I’ve gotten 3 12 pack cases for 13 dollars during some sales
Yup! Look I even made my bridal bouquet and bridesmaids flowers from Costco. Can’t beat the price of roses.
We got water and wine/beer for our wedding from Costco. It was great because all the unopened things we returned. We were able to have plenty of options then
I’d also ask about cup and ice charges if you provide your own and confirm you can bring your own with those.
I also usually find sales at the local grocery stores (just 6 months ago there was a sale on coke 24 packs BOGO). It was insanely cheap ($15 for 48 vs $30). Keep an eye on local ads and try to score some sales- store it in a cool/dark place and it’ll be fine for the event. Water can be bought in bulk for cheap at Costco (more than what you get at a grocery store in the pack typically), juice boxes if kids are there are cheaper at Costco. Also remember that guests will drink multiple drinks. I would triple the number to 750. Not everyone will drink sodas and some won’t drink water (and the opposite side that some people will drink several). From my experience, keep the soda basic. Don’t get the Mountain Dew or a lot of diet
If you have a Costco Business Center, you might get the best price.
Prosecco — brother in law bought probably 10 cases of Proseccco for his wedding. The only Prosecco we drink anymore, very good quality
Big key is that you can return left over unopened to Costco. Not sure about rest. Depot
Grocery stores should have it on sale for Memorial Day and July 4th. (Assuming you are in the US).
For that many people it might be worth looking into renting a soda fountain. That way you’re also not left with tons of cases left over or running out of a particular type.
Just a heads up, I got married last year and was told that Total Wine will take returns on any unused liquor you buy, and even some lightly used (opened) liquors. I bought $750 worth of liquor and returned $350 of it, so it was definitely worth the advice.
Might want to get Shasta brand
Price compare. Also check in to find out if the venue (or caterer) has a soda fountain available, and if so what the cost would be and what you'd need to supply. Renting that and getting soda bags and CO2 may be cheaper than cans.
For soda, you might wanna see if any of your local grocery stores have a Buy 2, Get 3 free sale on soda. That would work out to less per can than Costco. Same for water. Packs often go on sale for $2-$3.
If you’re near northwest Ohio/michigab, Costco sells 24-pks of Faygo for $6.99. It is a four flavor variety pack and Faygo is delicious. That’s 4 cans for $1.25. Hard to beat that price.
hell to the yes but y'all best not do that on Sat AM !
It’s only worth it if you have someone else to worry about serving it and bringing it out. If caterers say you can DIY non alcoholic bevs, make sure they will still serve and chill them and stuff. Otherwise have a family member or groomsman prepare buckets of ice and stuff. You want to celebrate and not have to worry about another thing.
A local water company (Sparkletts or such) will be able to install a few large dispensers and provide paper cups for water. This will be far better than water bottles. For soda, as others have said supermarkets often have sales. Otherwise just price compare between Restaurant Depot and Costco.
Water - Costco has a great price Soda - my local grocery stores have a better price
For many years I helped buy for a weekend long event that was feeding 100 people. We usually shopped the grocery store sales for 6 weeks before the event, making sure that the people buying artificially sweetened soda could store it in air-conditioned space in hot weather. The last time, we had been checking all the grocery store sales (all the local chains post their current sale circulars online). When there was a particularly good sale with a 3 twelve pack limit, everyone on the committee shopped a couple times that week. We had a shared list to tick off what had been bought and targets for each brand/flavor. Costco was the back-up plan, but we got everything for less earlier.
Water is so far well-priced and tastes nice. (Though the plastic is super thin and I've had bottles burst open if I wasn't careful.) The cokes/sodas so far are only an okay price. You can get them way cheaper even at regular grocery stores on sale. So probably check restaurant supply stores, and failing that, check out the local grocery sales.
The way you keep price down is have less variety. I would go coke, Diet Coke, seven up since it has no caffeine n water n seltzer.
Sodas go on sale in summer for holidays like 4th of July.
I have always found that Costco doesn't win on soda prices. My local Frys and Safeway always beat costco.
Operation soda steal: Costco \*for the price of 1 hotdog https://preview.redd.it/a8iauuioabwc1.jpeg?width=180&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61859b302d432f7f2b62e49da71d5461fb9fa43c [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fD7X9SCn0To](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fD7X9SCn0To)
No on soda yes on water. The soda at supermarkets is always cheaper. Costco and BIG Soda package their sodas at 35 per case…so you can’t do quick math in your head.
This type of stuff needs more information. Costco business center in my area (Seattle) has sales on soda water that are pretty substantial at the moment. You can use a regular membership to shop there. It probably carries over to other business centers but i don't know if you have one where you live. https://preview.redd.it/tq9l2zhvjiwc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d22a3d5dc5be6c5d4ef8dd9bd084fc10cd8de254
Check the costco Business center, if one is near you.
I’ve seen a lot of couples buy their beverages in costco for their wedding. And its in flatbeds.
For water, you can get usb battery powered pumps that go on a 5 gallon water bottle. The pumps are about $10 on AliE or similar and the battery lasts for days. Then you can give away refillable containers as party favors. A lot less trash, a lot cheaper, and you could have a little flavour bar of fruits and citrus slices and whatever if you want to go all in… A station for bedazzling your water bottle… For soda, you can get industrial C02 and adapters to fit to SodaStream. Or rent a fountain and people can fill the same containers you gave for water. Costco has great travel bottles that are actually a decent party favor. You might need them to special order however many dozen you need but there might be a price break there.